Reticule for firearm telescopes



Sept. 6, 1949. T. w. STEIN 2,481,254

RETICULE FOR FIREARM TELESCQPES Filed July 16, 1948 I N V EN TOR. 7/1500 0/95 W. $727M rflmfmww ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 6, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" 2,481,254 RETICULE FOR FIREARM TELESCOPES Theodore w. Stein, Butte, Mont. Application July 16, 1948, Serial No. 39,070

This invention relates'to improvements in objective lens reticules for telescopes, and more particularly to an improved reticule having a minute sphere or dot at the intersection of its cross hairs for use in a sighting telescope for a firearm, such as a rifle.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide an improved sighting reticule for a rifle sighting telescope which reticule includes a pair of fine cross hairs and a minute sphere secured to the cross hairs at their intersection or crossover point, and wherein the sphere or dot is so positioned relative to the cross hairs that it is not distorted by capillary attraction of its material along the cross hairs during application or formation thereof, receives full lighting from the objective lens of the telescope so that its outline is always sharp and clear, and places the cross hairs slightly out of the focal plane of the telescope so that the cross hairs do not reflect the light and thus cause distortion of the image of the target or the sphere.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal side elevation of a rifle sighting telescope having a portion broken away and shown in cross-section to illustrate the application of a sighting reticule thereto;

Figure 2 is a front elevation on an exaggerated scale of a rifle sighting telescope reticule illustrative of the invention;

Figure 3 is a rear elevation of the reticule illustrated in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a transverse cross-section taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is an elevation on a. still further exaggerated scale of a fragmentary portion of the reticule showing the application of the minute sphere or dot to the cross hairs of the reticule.

With continued reference to the drawing, the telescope, generally indicated at [0, has a barrel I I mounted in a holder l2 secured to the rifle barrel l3, and has at one end the conventional eyepiece and at its opposite or front end a conventional objective lens, not illustrated. A sighting reticule, generally indicated at M, is mounted in the barrel ll between the objective lens and the eye-piece and is supported in operative position substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal center-line of the barrel by an inner sleeve l5, having an annular groove therein receiving the annular frame of the reticule.

The reticule I 4 has a circular frame ring l6 3 Claims. (01. 33-50) and two fine cross hairs l1 and I8 extending'diametrically across the ring substantially perpendicular to each other and crossing over each other at a cross-over point which is preferably located at the exact center of the ring I 6. The two cross hairs I1 and H! are of microscopically small diameter and are conventionally formed of pieces of spider web strand or of threads of platinum wire or a synthetic plastic, such as nylon, and are disposed in asubstantially com mon plane within the ring I6.

In order to improve the accuracy of the sighting telescope and the visibility of the point of intersection of the cross hairs l1 and I8, a minute sphere is is secured to the cross hairs at their point of intersection. The construction so far described is known to the art and the sphere applied at the point of intersection of the cross hairs is commonly referred to as a dot.

The sphere or dot I9 is made of some suitable material rendered plastic by a volatile solvent and is intended to harden in true spherical shape when the solvent evaporates. It has been found, however, in this prior practice, that in applying the material to the cross hairs, capillary attraction of the material along the cross hairs tends to seriously distort the dot from its spherical shape. Also, when the dot is applied so that the cross hairs extend through the center thereof, as is conventional, and the dot disposed so that the focal plane of the telescope also extends through its center, it does not receive full lighting from the objective lens of the telescope and hence, does not have a sharp and definite outline. Also the cross hairs, being also disposed in the focal plane of the telescope, refract the light to some extent and distort the image of the target as seen through the telescope.

In order to overcome these difliculties, the present invention applies the dot or minute sphere Hi to the cross hairs l1 and I8 so that the sphere is disposed at one side of the common plane in which the cross hairs l1 and 18 are substantially included, as is clearly illustrated in Figures 4 and 5. With this construction the sphere contacts the cross hairs only within a. very restricted area of its surface and the capillary attraction of the cross hairs for the material of the sphere does not cause an equatorial distortion of the sphere, as is the case when the cross hairs extend through the center of the sphere, as indicated by broken lines in Figure 5. With this arrangement, when the reticule is properly mounted so that the focal plane of the telescope passes through the center of the sphere, the cross hairs i1 and 18 are slightly displaced from the focal plane with the advantages above enumerated.

While it is theoretically preferable to have the sphere or dot entirely at one side of the common plane of the cross hairs, this is not quite possible in practice, since a sufficient part of the sphere must surround the cross hairs to securely fasten the sphere to the cross, hairs at their point of cross-over and in practice the sphere is disposed with a ver large percentage or substantially all of its volume at one side of the common plane of the cross hairs.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from. the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come Within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

I. In a telescope reticule having a pair of cross hairs disposed substantially perpendicular to each other, substantially in a common plane and crossing over each other adjacent their mid-length locations, and a minute sphere secured to said cross hairs at their cross Over point, the improvement which comprises having said sphere secured to said cross hairs so that substantially all of its volume is one side of said common plane.

2. In a reticule for a rifle sighting telescope which reticule includes a pair of cross hairs disposed substantially in a common plane and crossing over each other at a point intermediate their ends, and a minute sphere secured to said cross hairs at their cross over point, the improvement which comprises having said sphere secured to said cross hairs so that said sphere is disposed to one side of said common plane and contacts said cross hairs only within a restricted area of its surface.

3. A reticule for a rifle sighting telescope comprising a pair of cross hairs disposed substantially perpendicular to each other in a common plane and crossing over each other substantially at their mid-length locations, and a minute sphere attached to said cross hairs at their cross over point with its center spaced from said common plane.

THEODORE W. STEIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 476,874 Cummi'ns June 14, 1892 830,868 Watson Sept. 11, 1966 1,380,150 Keeran May 31', I921 

